Charter of Demands: Actualizing women's land rights in Africa

The Kilimanjaro Initiative is a rural women’s mobilisation from across Africa towards an iconic moment at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro in October 2016. The Kilimanjaro Initiative was conceived when, we the Rural Women of Africa with support from civil society, met in Dar es Salaam in 2012. This initiative aims to create space for us to be able to participate in decision making processes about land and natural resources.

With 2016 declared by the 26th African Union Summit as “Africa Year of Human Rights with particular focus on the Rights of Women”, coupled with the transition from MDGs into SDGs, our quest for actualization of our right to land and natural resources towards a food and nutritional secure continent could have never been timelier.

Also noting that in October 2015, the AU Special Technical Committee on agriculture, water and environ- ment recommended that Member States allocate at least 30% of land to women; improve land rights of women through legislative/other mechanisms, in order to give prac- tical effect to the AU declaration on Land in which all African states committed to ensure equitable access to land for all land users and strengthen women’s land rights. The women have therefore pro- claimed this Charter of principles and demands specifically on women’s access to use, control, own, inherit and dispose their land and natural resources.